Heading into Monday's contest, the Blue Devils averaged around seven 3-pointers per game. Duke had that by the time the first half was finished.
The No. 5 Blue Devils defeated Pittsburgh 79-65 at Cameron Indoor Stadium to cap a hectic four-game, eight-day stretch. The win is head coach Mike Krzyzewski's 999th career victory, and he will go for No. 1,000 Sunday at Madison Square Garden against St. John's.
"Our guys, I'm proud of how they responded from the last six days after two losses and even how they responded after Louisville, because it's such a big win for us," Krzyzewski said. "[Getting win No. 999] means we're 16-2. That's exactly what that means. And hopefully we can be 17-2 after the next game we play."
After defense was the story of Saturday's 63-52 victory at then-No. 6 Louisville, Monday's win came largely on the other end of the court, namely from behind the arc. Led by Rasheed Sulaimon's four 3-pointers, the Blue Devils (16-2, 4-2 in the ACC) shot the lights out against Pittsburgh, knocking down 7-of-14 treys in the first 20 minutes. Duke finished the game with 11 triples.
Duke's long ball helped extend its lead seemingly every time Pittsburgh made a run, stifling any notions of a comeback by the Panthers (13-6, 3-3). With 17:48 left in the game, Pittsburgh had whittled the Blue Devil lead down to 44-34. Three minutes, three treys, three free throws and three layups later, Duke owned a 62-42 lead and never looked back.
"'Sheed came in and gave us a huge lift. And we saw the ball go in today. We saw it go in. It's the first game in the ACC where we shot well," Krzyzewski said. "Seeing it go in leads to winning. Just being positive with them—just keep shooting."
But 3-pointers were far from the only reason the Blue Devils managed to stay on top of the Panthers. Freshman guard Tyus Jones, who had reached double-digits just once since Dec. 29, followed up a 10-point, eight assist performance against Louisville with a 22-point outburst Monday. Jones contributed to Duke's long-range success with four 3-pointers of his own and added four assists.
"I was just taking shots with confidence," Jones said. "My teammates believed in me, told me to keep shooting even if shots weren't falling like they weren't in previous games. They told me to just keep shooting, and that's what I did. So I credit them a lot."
Krzyzewski implemented a 2-3 zone against the Cardinals and Duke stuck with that approach once again against the Panthers. Duke jumped out to a 7-0 lead before allowing a Jamel Artis layup to fall with 17:28 left in the half to put the Panthers on the board.
Pittsburgh shot just 37 percent in the first half but made a small push early in the second half with an 8-3 run out of the locker room. Artis kept things close for the Panthers, as he scored a team-high 21 points. The Blue Devils would not stick with the zone the entire game, switching back to man-to-man throughout the contest.
Pittsburgh was able to eventually find a weakness in the Duke defense, as the Panthers owned a 36-18 advantage in points scored in the paint. With freshman center Jahlil Okafor in foul trouble and facing double-teams on the other end for most of the night, the Blue Devils were not able to command the interior despite boasting a taller front line.
"Zone is new to us—we're trying to figure it out," Okafor said. "It's definitely been different. We've been watching film—we watched film of the Louisville game and tried to make improvements and we're going to do the same with this also."
Duke was stretched thin when Marshall Plumlee picked up his fourth foul with 10:03 left, forcing Okafor to re-enter the game and play cautiously with three fouls. Despite the foul issues, Okafor still finished with 14 points and a game-high five assists.
"Jah can pass, he can pass well. I really thought in the first half, he and Amile didn't go through contact like they have—we missed around four shots at the bucket," Krzyzewski said. "For [Okafor], maybe a couple days off is good for him, too. You get beat up and beat on all the time. He's a big guy, he needs some rest too. His passing was brilliant today."
The Blue Devils will get a six-day rest before taking the court again in New York against the Red Storm.
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